CS50 Lesson 01

Updated on 11.20.20

I felt much better after learning how coding came to be what it is today. At the end of the 1st lesson of CS50 I laughed at how we needed to come up with ingenious ways to define a key or code because we already used another. It does make it more confusing, but I am happy I chose to learn Java first and not C#. 

What did I learn today?

I learned why code looks the way it looks. Why we need to keep it clean and the meaning of different functions. I love how the basic commands are universal and once I learn them I can navigate more swiftly through different codes.

I also learned that there is good code and ugly code, not bad, not wrong, just unnecessary and messy. As someone who loves keeping things simple and sweet, this came in as a relief. 

I loved how they think in terms of “think lazy” as I was once advised long ago. This meant to be efficient, be accurate, straight to the point, and if you can bring 5 cups at once to the kitchen, why make 5 trips? Funny enough, the same applies to the code we were shown. At the moment I would be more inclined to the first but I see why the second would be best.

However, I also learned I need to dedicate more time to understand better:

• universal commands
• increments
• lists for ‘get’ values
• placeholders
• formatting options

But I will be patient. Maybe we run into these through the course or we use them so much I end up memorizing them. So I won’t get ahead of myself just yet. 

This is a weekly course, but my plan is to get through it for the purpose of understanding. Once I finish, I can begin practicing knowing what I am trying to do. The practical parts of this course, though useful, are not my goal. Unless it is a fun exercise. Then I will definitely do it!